‘Bows start fast, hang on

University of Hawaii students were encouraged to attend Tuesday’s basketball game at the Stan Sheriff Center dressed for a day at the beach.

For a while it looked like the theme would fit the Rainbow Warriors’ on-court matchup with North Dakota. But the last few minutes proved to be anything but leisurely.

UH raced out to a 23-point lead in the first half, saw North Dakota charge back to close to within three late in the game and escaped with a 71-66 win to close its season-opening homestand at 4-1.

"I was really pleased with how we came out in the first half, came out with great emotion and jumped on them … as good as we’ve played all year," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "That second half I think we wore down. That was the first time I thought we looked a little tired, a little step slow. I think we were maybe a little emotionally and physically drained."

UH guard Brandon Spearman led all scorers with 19 points, making three 3-pointers and draining two free throws with 5.3 seconds left that finally put the game out of reach.

Freshman forward Isaac Fotu finished with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting and eight rebounds. Forward Christian Standhardinger added 11 and center Vander Joaquim finished with 10, all coming in the first half, as he spent most of the decisive final minutes on the bench.

The Rainbows needed nearly all of that production to fend off North Dakota’s second-half surge led by guards Aaron Anderson and Josh Schuler, who tied for team-high honors with 17 points each.

North Dakota’s comeback conjured memories of UH’s agonizing last-10th-of-a-second, 78-77 loss to Illinois last Friday, when the Rainbows saw a 16-point lead evaporate.

"We didn’t really do much right in the second half, but we kept playing and we didn’t want another repeat of the Illinois game," Fotu said. "We kept fighting and did things right in this game and we did wrong in the Illinois game."

After pulling out the bounce-back win, the Rainbows have some time to gear up for a road game at No. 18 UNLV on Dec. 1.

"I’m glad we’ve got these nine days off quite honestly," Arnold said. "I think we need a little physical break and emotional break and then come back Friday and really get after it."

Limiting turnovers and improving their free-throw percentage were high priorities coming out of the Illinois game. The Rainbows went the first nine minutes, eight seconds before committing their first turnover on Tuesday and ended the first half with just two in taking a 42-27 lead into the break.

UH committed eight in the second half, four coming on offensive fouls, and North Dakota (1-3) chipped away behind Anderson’s four 3-pointers.

"I thought the last 24 minutes is what our team is typically like," UND coach Brian Jones said. "We’re a gritty team, we don’t give up and we made some shots and made it a game. I thought we got better, but we still didn’t finish the job."

UH scored the game’s first seven points and took command with a 20-1 run later in the first half to take a 29-7 lead. Schuler hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer and Anderson drained another to open the second half to cut UH’s lead to 12.

UND continued to stick around and got back to within single digits when Jamal Webb and Anderson knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to spark a 10-1 run that cut the UH lead to 59-54 with 6:48 left in the game.

Anderson’s fourth 3-pointer of the second half brought UND to within three with 2:56 remaining and had a shot to tie it up go off the rim. Fotu grabbed the rebound and Hauns Brereton, who was 1-for-7 from the field to that point, hit a 3-pointer from the wing to extend the UH lead to 69-63 at the 2:10 mark.

Schuler responded by completing a three-point play and got the ball back with 14 seconds left after UH was called for a lane violation on Spearman’s free throw.

Anderson then took a deep 3-pointer as he went to the ground that came up short.

"It’s a judgment call," Jones said. "A couple possessions before that we had a great look. So there were some other chances to take the lead as well and we just didn’t capitalize."

Spearman was fouled and made both free throws to seal the outcome.

"I love to be in that situation," Spearman said, "to finish teams off."